Education

Humphrey Perkins School

The school was built on land donated by Humphrey Perkins in his will. The building was started in 1735 and it cost a total of £160. In 1736 the 1st Master was appointed, but he refused to instruct the children in the English tongue and complaints were received to the Trustees from the inhabitants. The schoolmaster was removed and the school became ‘void’. In 1738, the Vicar of Barrow was approved to teach school by the Trustees and Rev Vere Foster was duly appointed as schoolmaster, and also to continue to act as Vicar. The school moved to its present site in Cotes Road in 1902, when it had 32 boys and 1 girl as pupils.

Humphrey Perkins School, circa 1836

A servant girl, who lived at the school, under the headmastership of Rev Drake, unwittingly locked herself out in the yard very early one morning. She did not dare awaken her master or mistress, so tried to re-enter the building down the chimney. She stuck fast in the middle and could get neither up or down. A bricklayer eventually had to be called to take down the chimney and release her.

Infant/Junior Schools

The Parochial School opened in 1859 in Cotes Road. There were 85 pupils attending in 1865. The Hall Orchard CE Controlled Primary School came into being in 1969 when it combined with the Hall Orchard Junior School in its new building and the Victorian annexe situated off Church Street.